Trailing apparatus.



V. E. PETERSON.

THAILING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mw 1uLY13,i914.

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'Wheels of that axle.

VCTOR E, PETEREBN, OF OVllHA, NEBRASKA.

TRLIG APPARATUS.

Les

Application ieil July i3, i914.

.To aU trimmv "it may concern Be it known that l., Violon E. Farmsen, acitizen of the United States, residing; at lnaha, in Douglas county, inthe State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and` the other astrailer; by means ot the c'on-,

necting inecoanisin to steer the trailer in tl path ot its tractor; inlike manner and with like eicct to connect the trailer with asuitabletractor of any other description; and in ,general to increase theefficiency of appara tus of the specified class. To accomplish thisobject l incorporate in my improved trailing apparatus, as partethereof, a tongue, or pole, for attaclin'ient to the tractor, and alinkage system or other Ageometrically deformable traine., attachable tothe iront aide orf the trailer', and actuated by the pole to control thedirection oic the The accompanyiner drawings shoe7 the best manner in'which l have contemplated applying,f the principles of the invention;yet the latter is not restricted to any speciic construction orarrangement ot' parts7 eX- cepting as limitations of that kind areeither expressed or necessarily implied inthe subn joined claims.

ln these drawings Figure 'l is a plan of a trailing apparatus 'which iscons 'noted in accordance with these principlu shown in operativeposition conne tiro automobiles, one drawing; the osier. il g. is anenlarged plan ot the sonic trailing,n apparatus. Fig". 8 a verticalsection on thsection line 3 3 or' Fig. l.. lila". Il .is a vcrticalsection on the. section line lr-'1- of Fig. l.

ln this illustrative specimen oi my invention, the geometricallydeformable Ytrame is a flat quadrilateral piyotally jointed linkagesystem comprising the parallel t nd rear bars il and 2 and the pava 3,all conjoined by 'the pivot b www etters Patent.

serial no. 850,581.

forwardly projecting pole, tongue, or draW- bar 5, is pivoted to themiddle of the bars l and Q by the bolts and on each end of the frame maybe mounted an outstanding i guide, consisting preferably ot thehorizontal roller 'l carried by the clevis 8, which is adjustablysecured to the end bar 3 by the .screw bolts 9. ln the absence of thisguide, its function may be performed by the bar itself. The pole mayadvantageously be at taclied to the rear axle of the tractor automobileby the double clamp 11, which spans the differential gearing 12 and isflexibly connected with the forward end of the pole.v l

The rear end of each of the bars 3 is attached to the iront aille 18 ofthe trailing automobile by a double pivotal connection coniprising theblock lll, Which-has a horiy/zontal pivot pin connecting the extendedside plates 16 of the bar, and has an approximately vertical pivot pinil connectingr the jaws 1S of a clamp hugging the axle.

ln applying this apparatus to an automobile which is to be drawn andsteered thereby, the end bars 3 are adjusted by the` use of the bolts 4land the alternative boltholes 20, to a. greater or less convenientdistance apart, somewhat lessithan the distance between the Wheels 2l;While the rollers 7 are in a similar manner adjusted in closer proximityto the forward peripheral portion of those Wheels respectively. As maybe seen in l each of these rollers, viewed from above, forms a slightangle With the bar 3 on which it is mounted. rThese guides, as Well asthe pole, are floating, in the sense that being connected with each ofsaid axles by a two-Way joint, or its equivalent, they are pivotallyoscillatable both laterally and vertically With reference to bothvehicles, and constantly occupy a 'variable position determined by themovements of'those axles relatively to each other.

ln the operation ot' the apparatus, Whenever the trailer atteinits todeviate from the path ci the tractor. and likewise whenever the tractorturns 'from a straight course. one

o'li the bars 3. or 'the roller 7' thereon, being` movement ot saidwheel is communicateiil in y lrinrl and extent to on the Patentedfillet. 5, lilla.

same axle by its coaxial steering arm stem 26, the front axle steeringarms 25 and the intermediate long steering rod 23. Thereby said Wheelsare turned in unison in the direction and to the extent necessary tosteer the trailer into the path of the tractor.

I claim as my invention: y

1. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a pole forattachment to the tractor, a geometrically deformable frame attached tothe front axle of the trailer, and operated by the pole to engage theWheels of that axle alternatively,

2. A trailing apparatus'of the specified class, comprising a pole forattachment to the,tractor, a pivotally jointed frame operated therebyand attachableto the front axle of the trailer, and a pair of guidesmounted upon the frame for engagement with they Wheels of that axle.

3. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a poleattachable to the tractor', and a geometrically deformable frameactuated thereby, which is adapted to be attached to the front axlel ofthe trailer and to exert lateral pressure on the Wheels of that axle.

4. Atrailing apparatus of the Specified class, .comprising a pole for,attachment to the tractor, and a geometrically derormableV frameoperated thereby, which is mounted upon the front axle of the trailerand is adapted to engage one of the bearing-Wheels of that axle; Y

5. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a pole, amechanically deformable frame actuated by the pole', a pair of guidesadjustably mounted on the .opposite ends of the frame, and pivotalconnections for attaching the framevto the front axle of the trailer.

G. A trailing apparatus of the specified class,co1nprising a rigid pole,means for attaching the front end of the pole toa tractor, a deformableframe attached to the and the trailer, and guides carried by the frameand adapted to engage or disengage the front Wheels of the'trailer.

7. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a fiatquadrilateral deformable frame, a pole attached pivotally to the frame,guiding meansmountedon thev frame, means for attaching the frame to thetrailer, and means for adjusting the guiding means on the frame.

8. A trailing apparatus of the specified i class, comprising a floatingpole', means for .pole attached toathe frame and to the tractor, andWheel-guiding means carried to and from the Wheels of that axle by the lrelative movements ofthe pole and axle.

10. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a floatingpole, flexibly connected With the tractor and With the front axle of thetrailer, and a floating guide carried bythe pole and adapted by lateralpressure to steerthe wheels constantly in parallelism With the pole.

' 11. A trailing apparatus of the specified class, comprising a pole, adeformable jointed frame actuated by the pole, and a roller carried bythe frame for occasionall engage-A l l ment with the front wheel of thetrailer-.-

In testimony whereof I s et my'name hereto in the presence of tWoWitnesses. l

VICTOR E. PETERSON. Witnesses:

WM. J. Ho'rz,

WILLARD EDDY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner o f Pate-nts,

Washington, D. C.

45 pole, pivotal connections between the frame

